Japan raised its investment to Africa in 2014 with a pledge of $32 billion that included aid, loans and commercial projects over the following three years. From 2008 to 2012, the well-off East Asian country had put out just $9 billion for Africa, geopolitical intelligence service Stratfor Enterprises says. Two years ago Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in Kenya that another $10… Read more »

If there's a trade war between the U.S. and China, don't blame Donald Trump : China started it long before he became president. Even free traders and internationalists agree China's predatory trade practices—which include forcing U.S. business to transfer valuable technology to Chinese firms and restricting access to Chinese markets—are undermining both its partners and… Read more »

HANOI/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Vietnam has halted an oil drilling project in the “Red Emperor” block off its southeastern coast licensed to Spanish energy firm Repsol following pressure from China, three sources with direct knowledge of the situation told Reuters on Friday. It would be the second time in less than a year that Vietnam has had to suspend a major oil development… Read more »

GENEVA — The handsome stone edifice that serves as the headquarters for the World Trade Organization rises like a fortress over Lake Geneva, projecting an air of impregnability. But lately the institution looks vulnerable, sowing worries that global commerce itself may be in jeopardy. As the United States accuses China of predatory trading practices while doling out unilateral… Read more »

America's message to investors overseas has long been that the U.S. is open for business. Now a presidential administration that says "America First" is pushing back, and one of its tools is a formerly obscure committee that works behind closed doors. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., or CFIUS, has stopped a string of foreign acquisitions of American companies, particularly… Read more »

The trade conflict between China and the U.S. escalated, with Beijing announcing its first retaliation against metals levies hours after President Donald Trump outlined fresh tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese imports and pledged there's more on the way. On Friday, China unveiled tariffs on $3 billion of U.S. imports in response to steel and aluminum duties ordered by Trump earlier… Read more »

The revelation that a foreign nation is actively spying on a government building is usually a big deal. Yet in January 2018 when a Le Monde investigation exposed that the Chinese-financed and constructed African Union building in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia had been bugged by Beijing, the outcry was muted. Microphones were found hidden in desks and walls, and data from the AU computer network… Read more »

China has sold Pakistan an advanced tracking system that could boost Islamabad's efforts to improve ballistic missiles capable of delivering multiple warheads, according to The South China Morning Post. The website of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) announced the deal with Pakistan and Zheng Mengwei, a researcher with the CAS Institute of Optics and Electronics, confirmed to the… Read more »

Fears of a trade war heightened on Thursday as the Trump administration slapped trade sanctions on China, including restrictions on investment and tariffs on $60bn worth of products. A Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman said Beijing would “take all legal measures to protect our interest” if the US took “actions that will harm both China and itself”. The US… Read more »

BEIJING—China's government criticized the U.S.'s planned punitive actions on Chinese exports and investment, warning that it will take “all necessary measures” to respond and decrying Washington's approach to the countries' trade disputes. China's commerce and foreign ministries separately registered Beijing's displeasure Thursday ahead of the Trump administration's… Read more »